Callander Community Hydro

This pioneering community hydro scheme will generate up to £2.85m to benefit its local area over the next 20 years.

The Callander Community Hydro project - the first community-owned project in Scotland to be developed on Forestry Commission land – began generating in September 2014.

The project, in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, secured £1.9m in backing from Triodos Bank, the Scottish Investment Bank and Social Investment Scotland.

The Gilkes turbine installed is expected to generate around 1.3 million GWh of energy per year, enough to provide electricity for approximately 300 homes.

The run-of-river scheme has been sympathetically constructed on Forestry Commission land at Stank Glen and diverts water from the Stank Burn down a buried pipeline into the turbine to produce power before being returned to the stream.

Funds generated will support the work of the Callander Community Development Trust whose current projects include an initiative to minimise the effects of flooding in the community.

Stephen McInally, Glasgow-based Business Development Manager for SmartestEnergy, said: “We have been involved in many community renewables schemes in Scotland in recent years and have developed a good understanding of the particular issues they face.”